Minotaur Book Club: The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Minotaur Book Club
Our next "book" will be "The Invisible Hook" by Peter Leeson

From the Publisher:
"Pirates understood the advantages of constitutional democracy--a model they adopted more than fifty years before the United States did so. Pirates also initiated an early system of workers' compensation, regulated drinking and smoking, and in some cases practiced racial tolerance and equality. Leeson contends that pirates exemplified the virtues of vice--their self-seeking interests generated socially desirable effects and their greedy criminality secured social order. Pirates proved that anarchy could be organized.

The Invisible Hook looks at legendary pirate captains like Blackbeard, Black Bart Roberts, and Calico Jack Rackam, and shows how pirates' search for plunder led them to pioneer remarkable and forward-thinking practices... revealing the democratic and economic forces propelling history's most colorful criminals, The Invisible Hook establishes pirates' trailblazing relevance to the contemporary world. "

Previous Book Club:
October was "Common Sense" by Thomas Payne. You can see that video and our previous book clubs on our YouTube Channel.

Date and Time:
Thursday, November 13th, 6:30pm – 8:30pm EST

Chosen Book:
“The Invisible Hook” by Peter Leeson
Available for purchase: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invisible_Hook
Or check your local library

The Minotaur Book Club delves into timeless questions and contemporary challenges, inviting participants to explore the roots of governance, liberty, and democracy through the lens of history and philosophy. The discussions will provide a fertile ground for examining how the principles of justice, equality, and collective responsibility have evolved and where they still fall short.

Purpose: The purpose of the book club is to counteract our country’s Historical Amnesia and strengthen our democracy. To that end, we will read and discuss books that help us to understand the American Project, diagnose persisting problems, and suggest ways to fulfill the mission of the Preamble to the Constitution.

"We the People of the United States, to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

The Minotaur is one of the key archetypes representing the threat to social order when government leaders threaten democracy by converting public goods to private purposes. The best defense for a democracy is educated citizens.

“A society ignorant and free, never was, never will be.” – Thomas Jefferson
“We have given you a republic, if you can keep it.” – Benjamin Franklin

END OF ANNOUNCEMENT